The present invention relates to an electric cable connecting construction and an electric cable connecting method.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique which utilizes battery packs each containing a plurality of batteries connected in series as a power supply in an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. These vehicle battery packs are disposed so as to be spaced apart from each other, and general electrodes of adjacent battery packs are connected in series or in parallel by a high-voltage cable.
A resin busbar module is mounted in each battery pack. This busbar module holds a plurality of first conductors which each connect a positive electrode with a negative electrode of adjacent batteries and second conductors which are connected to general electrodes of batteries which are disposed at ends of the battery pack. A number of electric wires which are connected to the batteries in the battery pack and high-voltage cables which are connected to the second conductors are laid out in this busbar module.
Crimp terminals each having a mounting hole formed therein are attached to both ends of the high-voltage cable. For example, the general electrodes that penetrate the corresponding second conductors of the busbar modules to project therefrom are inserted through the mounting holes in the crimp terminal, and nuts are screwed on the general electrodes to thereby allow the crimp terminals at both the ends of the high-voltage cable to be pressed against the second electrodes, whereby the crimp terminals and the general electrodes are electrically connected together. Two ribs are formed on the busbar module in a position where the crimp terminal is held by the two ribs so formed therebetween so as to limit the entrained rotation of the crimp terminal within a certain range when the nut is tightened.
Patent Literature 1 JP-A-2004-362997
Incidentally, when the crimp terminals at both the ends of the high-voltage cable are connected to the general electrodes of the adjacent battery packs, one of the crimp terminals is connected to the general electrode of one of the battery packs and the other crimp terminal is connected to the general electrode of the other battery pack with the high-voltage cable curved.
In a high-voltage cable of this type, however, a sectional area defined in a direction which is at right angles to an axial direction is relatively large relative to an axial length (hereinafter, referred to simply as a length) (for example, a sectional area of 12 sq relative to a length of 200 mm). Therefore, it is not easy to attach the other crimp terminal to a predetermined position of the other battery pack with the high-voltage cable curved.